In the Care of His Relations
by Mihra-Attar
Summary: 5-part drabble fic using wordprompts. Warnings inside.
1. Safe

This is a 5-part drabble-series utilizing keywords. (Safe, Folly, Ghost, Blame, Mistakes) I will post one section each morning starting today and ending on Friday. Warning for abuse and character death, but keep in mind that these are drabbles, so there's nothing excessively graphic.

Safe

"Headmaster! I loathe the boy, and I'm telling you there is something very wrong with him! He is being abused!" Severus paced in front of Albus' desk, trying not to throttle the man.

"I'm sure it's just a little discipline. He is their blood, after all." Albus said calmly.

"He moves like he's been beaten bloody!" Severus growled.

"Severus, he needs the wards. He's safe from Voldemort there." Albus said, giving Severus a _significant look._

"But not from _them_." Severus snarled, leaning towards the obstinate old man and slamming his hands onto the desk.

"Severus, you forget your place." Albus rose, eyes going cold.

"On your head be it." Severus stalked out, unwilling to remain in the man's presence any longer. 


	2. Folly

Folly

When Potter didn't show up for his sixth year of school Albus sent _Severus_ to retrieve him. In a dark mood, Severus stalked to the house he'd been sent to, and knew immediately that something was very wrong.

There were no wards.

When he knocked on the door a large, drunk, aggressive man answered the door.

"Wha'da you want?" The man slurred, wobbling slightly.

"I have come to collect Potter." Severus drawled. The man tried to slam the door, giving Severus all the excuse he needed to push into the house and into the man's mind.

Twenty minutes later Severus stalked into the Great Hall, a way-too-light bundle in his arms. He knew he was being quite dramatic, but old coot needed a wake-up call.

"Headmaster, I didn't realize your definition of 'a little discipline' included beating a child with a belt until they loose consciousness and leaving them to die of shock, blood loss, and dehydration." Severus dropped his bundle on the table in front of the Headmaster, silently thanking the house elves for clearing it before the body hit.

The panic and shear amount of sicking up that filled the hall gave Severus a perverse sense of pleasure. 


	3. Ghost

Ghost

Severus stared at Hogwart's newest ghost, so shocked he didn't realize he was blocking traffic into the Great Hall.

"Pardon?" He couldn't have heard the boy correctly.

"Thank you, sir, for trying to save me, even though you hated me." The Harry-ghost said, then suddenly shot forwards.

"Headmaster." The ghost's voice was loud in a suddenly silent entry. Severus absently wondered how so many students could be so quiet. "So good to see you again. I just have one question: Was keeping me safe from Voldemort worth sending me to be murdered by my relatives?"

"My dear boy, I didn't know." Albus said in his grandfatherly way, looking contrite.

"Don't give me that shite!" Somehow the ghost was staying calmer than the boy ever had in life. "When Severus Snape tells you that the student he hates most in the school is being abused you know there's a problem."

"How could I, you never said anything." Albus put on his angry-face, but the magic that would frighten wayward children (and adults) did not nothing to the ghost.

"You knew. You wouldn't have bound Madame Pomfrey to silence if you hadn't." The ghost floated backwards, towards where Severus was sitting.

"Good luck defeating another Dark Lord, Headmaster. Perhaps you will learn from this one what you professed to learn from the last." The ghost floated into Severus, and disappeared going out his back. Somehow, Severus couldn't blame him that last trick. 


	4. Blame

Blame

The Wizarding World was in an uproar. The Dark Lord was wrecking havoc in the muggle world, muggleborns were dying by the dozen, and the Ministry was wasting its time hurling blame and recriminations against Dumbledore.

That trying to allocate blame never helped a situation seemed too complicated a concept for the logic-deprived wizarding world, and Severus watched as the world he'd given so much to save crumbled around him. Soon it wouldn't matter anymore. Soon the potions he'd devised would finish their work, and he would no longer have to worry about pleasing two excessively powerful, megalomaniac masters.

Weasley, Ronald, had just been a boon. The boy had changed after the Granger girl's death. Matured, lost his blind prejudices and tendency to babble. In fact, when he wasn't working he brooded silently, which was perfect for Severus. It didn't hurt that the boy was a challenging chess opponent.


	5. Mistakes

Mistakes

"I made such a mistake, Severus." The old man wheezed, trapped in his hospital bed. "I should have listened, shouldn't have trusted the stipend to satisfy the Dursley male." Severus tried not to react to the knowledge that Dumbledore had very well known what was going on.

"Perhaps you should have." Severus tried to keep his voice neutral.

"So many mistakes, Severus." The old man took a great, heaving breath, and exploded. Severus' shield kept him from getting covered in Dumbledore-goop.

Many miles away, Severus knew, another old, powerful, _thing_ was exploding.

"Um, Severus?" Ronald's voice came hesitantly from across the room.

"Yes, Ronald?" Severus turned slightly, grimacing at the man's goo-covered form.

"Was it supposed to do that?" His eyes would have been wide if the lashes weren't heavy with slime.

"No, I believe the formula was off." Severus shrugged. "My mistake."


End file.
